Shift towards Vegan Diet and its Health Benefits
Discusss about the Meat Consumption in New Zealand.
There has been a global concern regarding the consumption of red meat as researchers and healthcare providers all over the world have related the over consumption of red meat with contraction of disease such as cancer. Additionally, the consumption of red meat has been associated with the development kidney disorders. Red meat has been associated with high cholesterol content which could gradually result in the development of heart disorder (Mathijs, 2015).
There has been a global shift stressing more upon the importance of vegan diet. The nutritionists all over the word have focused upon the health benefits produced from the intake of vegan diet. For example, the intake of plant based foods such as cabbage and cauliflower which are high in omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins could reduce the risk of stroke manifold times . Additionally, the vegan diet is rich in anti oxidants which could reduce the risk factors of cancer. It has been seen that certain myogenic factors play a special role in the development of lean meat such as the Myogenic factor 5 variant is associated with meat yield in sheep (Wang et al., 2017).
The consumption of processed meat is very high in New Zealand which results in a number of health concerns for the New Zealand based population. New Zealand is the global leader in lamb and deer meat exports. It holds a strong positioning with respect to beef and chicken exports (Cobb, Pharo, Stone, Groenendaal & Zagmutt, 2015). The article tested the likelihood of insertion of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) into New Zealand through the insertion of fresh consumer ready cut meat of pigs. From the standard research methods implied it had been found that it took almost 52 years since the first introduction of the virus and the first contraction with the virus.
There have been a number of factors which favours the growth of the New Zealand meat industry. New Zealand has effective on-farm efficient systems and programs along with a long history of meat production. However, with growing concerns over excessive meat consumption New Zealand is trying to change the way meat is marketed and consumed by the target customer group at large. The present focus has been to shift from processed meats to pest meats, which are unprocessed organic wild flesh, free from any chemical additives (Buenz, Parry & Peacey, 2016). However as argued by Tucker (2018),less knowledge about the variants of vegetarian food further enhances the craving in people for red meat or any sorts of non-vegetarian food. This could promote the hunting and poaching of wild animals which is a threat to the environment and biodiversity.
Meat Industry in New Zealand: Concerns and Efforts for Reduction
In the current study the effects of red meat consumption has been discussed in details. As s mentioned by Aykan (2015), red and processed meat intake has been linked with the development of cancer. The reduction in e red meat consumption has been associated with food sustainability ad food security. Additionally, lowering the consumption of red meat could also trigger agricultural activities such as the production of green crops . Though, there has been a lot of development in the western countries with regards to reducing the consumption of meat little has been achieved in this regard. This is because food consumption is associated with behaviour and attitudes of people (Tucker, 2014). In order to implement the changes in the dietary patterns the people should be educated moderately regrading the ill effects of the consumption of red and processed meat.
The high consumption of red and processed meat has been associated with the development of colorectal cancer (Cleghorn & Wilson, 2016). As suggested by Szymlek-Gay (2018), lack of physical activity and high consumption of fructose and saturated fat have been associated with the development of fatty liver disease. The consumption of processed meats was further related with the method of cooking. For example, frying and grilling have been referred to as unhealthy cooking methods. As per Szymlek-Gay (2018), lean meat consumption has been seen to relatively control the serum concentration of high density lipoprotein (HDL). The lean meat consumption had no effect on controlling the serum fatty acid consumption or HDL excepting that it reduces the pentadecanoic acid concentration. Deep frying or cooking has been seen to produce heterocyclic amines (HCAs) which are pro-inflammatory compounds (Wilson et al., 2013). There has been increased risk of colorectal cancer with the consumption of processed and red meat. The high rates of occurrences of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer in New Zealand have been associated with high consumption of red and processed meat. The production of processed meats is also associated with a number of environmental concerns such, as emission of green house gases, pollution of the waterways. Additionally there have been concerns regarding food security as well (Wilson et al., 2013). The reduction in the consumption of red meat has been seen to reduce the health burden b y 11.1%. The red and processed meat consumption by the New Zelanders has been associated with the generation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which could further develop conditions such as fatty liver. It has been found that in USA meat is consumed three times the global average inspite of the awareness worldwide regarding the carcinogenic properties held by red meat which could significantly contribute towards the development of cancer (Daniel, Cross, Koebnick & Sinha, 2011). For generating sufficient awareness effective health education campaigns could be organized by the government with the help of the local community health workers. It has been seen that the consumption of red meat has often been associated with the taste and liking of people. Therefore, it lies on the part of the government to raise awareness within the people regrading the added health benefits provided by vegan diet. The various promotional channels which could be used to reach out to the people are internet, television by developing educational videos, which aimed at imparting sufficient knowledge to the target population. Additionally, the Government could control the sale or limit the intake of processed red meat by taxing them adequately. On the whole, behavioural modifications through community health care programs can sufficiently reduce the consumption of red meat.
Importance of Health Education Campaigns for Reducing Red Meat Consumption
From the above represented facts, it could be garnered that red and processed meat results in a number of health issues within an individual. The consumption of red meat has been associated with fatty liver disease along with increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease (Bogueva, Marinova & Raphaely, 2017). Most importantly red meat could induce health conditions such as colorectal cancer. Thus, consumption of processed food such as ham, salami, bacon, and frankfurts have been seen to contain group 1 carcinogen whereas lean red meat has been seen to be an important source of iron, zinc, vitamin b12 and protein (Wang et al., 2017). The chemicals form red meat has been reportedly seen to damage the cells that line the bowel.
Therefore, based upon the above facts, it could be said that red meat consumption needs to be lowered within the population. Though, it is difficult to change the diet behaviour of people. Educating the people regrading the importance of vegan diet and the benefits associated with consumption of vegan diet as they have been seen to act as rich source of anti-oxidants could be helpful (Tucker, 2018). In addition to effective diet control the people should be educated regarding the health benefits of physical activity. Therefore, the New Zealand government should promote more intake of vegetable rich diet and provide free supply of fresh fruits and vegetables in rural areas.
References
Aykan, N. F. (2015). Red Meat and Colorectal Cancer. Oncology Reviews, 9(1), 288. https://doi.org/10.4081/oncol.2015.288
Bogueva, D., Marinova, D., & Raphaely, T. (2017). Red meat consumption and social marketing interventions promoting appetite for change. International Journal of Food Engineering, 3(2), 154-158.
Buenz, E. J., Parry, G. J., & Peacey, M. (2016). Consumption of wild-harvested meat from New Zealand feral animals provides a unique opportunity to study the health effects of lead exposure in hunters. Ambio, 45(5), 629-631.
Cleghorn, C., & Wilson, N. (2016). The benefits of constraining processed meat and red meat consumption in New Zealand: a public health perspective. The New Zealand medical journal, 129(1445), 115-121.
Cobb, S. P., Pharo, H., Stone, M., Groenendaal, H., & Zagmutt, F. J. (2015). Quantitative risk assessment of the likelihood of introducing porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus into New Zealand through the importation of pig meat. Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics), 34(3), 961-975.
Daniel, C. R., Cross, A. J., Koebnick, C., & Sinha, R. (2011). Trends in meat consumption in the United States. Public Health Nutrition, 14(4), 575–583. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980010002077
Mathijs, E. (2015). Exploring future patterns of meat consumption. Meat science, 109, 112-116.
Szymlek-Gay, E. A., Gray, A. R., Heath, A. M., Ferguson, E. L., & Skeaff, C. M. (2018). Red meat consumption and serum lipids and fatty acids in toddlers: secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. Retrieved from : https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0000000000002018
Tucker, C. (2018). Using environmental imperatives to reduce meat consumption: perspectives from New Zealand. K?tuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 13(1), 99-110.
Tucker, C. A. (2014). The significance of sensory appeal for reduced meat consumption. Appetite, 81, 168-179.
Wang, J., Zhou, H., Forrest, R. H., Hu, J., Liu, X., Li, S., … & Hickford, J. G. (2017). Variation in the ovine MYF5 gene and its effect on carcass lean meat yield in New Zealand Romney sheep. Meat science, 131, 146-151.
Wilson, N., Nghiem, N., Mhurchu, C. N., Eyles, H., Baker, M. G., & Blakely, T. (2013). Foods and dietary patterns that are healthy, low-cost, and environmentally sustainable: a case study of optimization modeling for New Zealand. PloS one, 8(3), e59648.
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